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“I know this is hardly traditional, but I put a great deal of thought into this decision and would appreciate if you gave me just a moment to explain myself before responding.”
“Of course, Kyoko, but—“
“It shouldn’t take long. I know I can be… distant… and often it has come to you to close the distance between us. And I do appreciate that, Makoto; I don’t know if I’ve ever complimented you on your patience, but I should have. I’m really quite awful with emotions.”
“Kyoko, that isn’t—“
“I wasn’t quite finished. I want to make sure you know that I intend to close the distance as well. I know… very little about how to be in a relationship, but I do want to learn. And I know you know that you are the only reason that I do want to learn. I love you, Makoto.”
“Kyo—“
“So I hope you can forgive the break from tradition. What I am trying to say, I suppose, is that I felt it was my turn to make a grand romantic gesture.”
“…”
“Ah, you can respond now. If you’d like.” Kyoko bit her lip, trying to will away the heat in her cheeks. She hadn’t felt this nervous since… well, since that time she’d almost died, she supposed. Much like that time, she was reasonably certain things would work out as she planned, but the mere possibility that it wouldn’t kept rising up in her mind to taunt her. Her knee was asleep. She might need Makoto’s help getting up from this position, regardless of how he responded.
At least Makoto was blushing too. “Kyoko, I love you so much!” Promising, but not quite an answer to her question. “Of course I’ll marry you!” Ah. Well, there it was. All of her worries seemed rather stupid now.
He held out his hand and she thanked him as she held onto it, pulling herself out of her kneeling position. Then he hugged her, tight, and Kyoko returned the gesture as she felt the tension leave her body. Makoto was very good at giving hugs. “In the interest of being more open, I should probably tell you that I rehearsed that speech quite a bit.”
He laughed, jubilant, and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. “You know you didn’t have to. I’d say yes to you no matter what.”
She did know that. She supposed she’d known the whole time.